Inside the Phillies with MLB.com beat writer Todd Zolecki

Welcome, Pedro

The Phillies are expected to introduce Pedro Martinez at a news conference today at Citizens Bank Park.

I’m expecting it to be interesting.

That is the word I’ve heard from countless baseball writers this week in St. Louis. Martinez is interesting. He is fun. He is entertaining. He in engaging … when he wants to be, of course.

But can he pitch?

That will be determined. But I like this move for one reason: it’s low risk. The Phillies are paying Martinez $1 million. If he can’t pitch, they cut him loose. If he can pitch, hey, he’s only costing them $1 million (plus a potential $1.5 million in incentives).

Seems as if MLB.com waisted a press pass on you Todd. All you have written about from St. Louis is Halladay and Pedro. You could have stayed in Phila and done this (and had better info too, probably). Why no posts on how our guys felt during the game. What the real story on Werth’s throw to third was, How Ryan felt striking out in the 9th in front of his family and home town, etc?

I can get all the Pedromania from the wire services. I expected more from you

The “story” on Werth’s throw to third? McCarver said “he missed the cut-off man” but why would you throw to a cut-off man on a triple with nobody on base? He got it there on one hop. A cut-off man would have made the throw later. The throw was late, that’s the story.
As far as Howard, how do you think he felt? He’s in an All-Star game facing one of the best closers in the AL, swung at a couple of bad pitches after Hudson stole second (virtually guraranteeing that Ryan wouldn’t see another strike) and ended an inning. Do we need an interpretation? Anybody who has ever participated knows how he felt.

I agree that Werth made teh right play. However, perhaps Werth, or other players think otherwise? Perhaps Howard felt he was over trying because it was an AS game or his highschool GF was in the stands. What I’m saying is that Todd was sent to the AS game to report on it and what happened there, except for the first day he didn’t do this. His stories on Pedro and Halladay would have been better and more informative if he was in Phila where this news was happeneing. WHy not a post on anything that happened in the AS game.

FIJ: Deb is correct. The blog is just his “oped” piece. His “bread & butter” are his articles he writes for mlb/phillies.com. I thought it was great that he had the time to post several blogs over the last couple of days considering all that was going on during all the All-Star festivities. Plus he knew folks would be interested in updates regarding Pedro Martinez. Plus we all know the Halladay extravaganza will be going on until the trade deadline.

Okay, okay. I admit that I’m not a twit and don’t use twitter. I dod go on the phils site, and yes there were articles, but one of the things I like about the blog is the interactive part of it with you guys. Just getting my head ripped off for the post allows me to feel a bit closer the then 7000 odd miles away I am.

If I upset Todd (which I doubt) sorry.
BTW, Pedro’s 15 day stay on the DL is up—July 30th, just in time for trade deadline. Ineresting coincidence?

wow F_I_J, you are as pompous as they come. First off, this is a “BLOG.” You post small stories here. If you actually went to the phillies website, you would see there are plenty of stories based on the all-star game. Sorry you’re to lazy to navigate a website. I could say something here that I’m sure alot of people are thinking, but ill keep it tactful.

Some of the most exciting games I have attended in the last 4-5 years were games where Pedro was pitching for the Mets. If he can be anything close to the pre-injury Pedro it may be worth it. One thing I remember about him is that you had to get to him early. Once he settled in his stuff got nasty and almost unhittable.

I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt. He has to stay healthy though.

Ryan, I’ve read all the posts he put up on the Phills site, as well as MLB.com, Yahoo, Espn, Foz etc. If you read above you’ll be able to understand (it’s written in simple, easy English) why I like it when Todd posts here. As for saying things people are thinking, how did your boy do last night? loved the swing at the slider a foot off the plate

I agree with everyone’s comments on Werth’s throw. As usual, the Fox guys complimentary to the *premier* players in the game, but not giving the 2nd string much props. They were practically gushing over Chase’s throw! Which admittedly was great. But then they barely mentioned the great grab Jayson made, late in the game. Just as good a play, if not better!

fij: I don’t think anyone in either clubhouse is going to be critical of Werth’s play. (1) It’s an All-Star game and (2) they just don’t do that. I think McCarver was the only one who was surprised to see the throw go through. As for the national guys, I don’t think they know enough about any one player to be critical. Mostly, the things they say about the local teams are from some media guide or something they heard, like when Joe Morgan once opined that Pat Burrell “ran well.”

Yeah, Pat ran from the porn star “well” lol. I saw Utley’s play, and while it was good, It was nothing we haven’t seen him do hundreds of times. Same for Werth’s catch. Crawford’s was a great grab, though. I still miss the intensity Rose broght to AS games. Anyone old enough to remember the famed collision at home? That guy didn’t understand the meaning of exhibition game

wow FIJ, Howard swung at a bad pitch in an ALL STAR GAME. There has to be 2 outcomes to every matchup, either the batter looks bad or the pitcher looks bad, and Howard got the wrong end of the stick. Sorry he struck out against one of the best closers in the game. Your 7000 mile distance is clearly showing in your posts. Maybe you should leave it up to the peole who watch local media and get to read the Inquirer/Daily News. Geting your fix from MLBlogs and National websites is definitely not getting the entire picture.

I know the All-Star game determines homefield adv. for the WS, but its really just a fun entertaining event.

Loved Victorino give President Obama macadamia nuts and Nike shoes w/44 on the them. Thought it was way cool how the President mentioned him when he was talking to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. Also liked him going into the locker room of each team.

Ryan, Ever hear of Phila.com? I read more of the inguirer/Daily News then you do I bet. It wasn’t a matter of it being an All Star game, Howard should have known that with first base open he wasnt going to see a good pitch there and he should have been looking for a ball, and not have been gung ho to swing at anything. It’s a problem he has almost every game, as shown by his record number of k’s. That said, he’s still one of the best hitters in the game and a definate All Star.

Man, the Phillies always get such good pitchers and hitters! It’s not fair. :} But, yes, I think he will do good for you. He seems to have a little spark in him too, that will be a good sort of personality for a leader. http://tribechick.mlblogs.com/

Watching the press conference now, it occurs to me that Pedro has lost a ton of weight since the WBC. They keep using that picture of him pitching for the Dominican in the WBC and he looks downright fat, but he’s definitely shed all of the extra pounds since then. He seems like he has a good attitude and is ready to go. I was opposed to this at first, but for $1 MM and with rehab starts in the minors, this isn’t such a bad idea.

On the halladay front. Here’s what he told Stark on Tuesday.
Halladay has been frequently rumored to be heading to the Phillies, a team with a park that’s not exactly a pitcher’s paradise. But he said pitching in Citizens Bank Park wouldn’t be a significant concern.

“For me, I’ve never been real worried about stats, numbers, ERAs and things like that,” he said. “I mean, everybody has got to play in the same park. So your chances of getting a couple of home runs are as good as giving them up. Especially as a starting pitcher, I just try to give my team a chance. You can do that with a 2.00 ERA or a 5.00 ERA. I think it’s all the same.”http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4327888

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